Self-lubricating spring



June 16, 1925.

- A. N. 'ANTHES SELF LUBRICATING SPRING June 16, 1925.

' A. N. ANTHES SELF LUBRICATING SPRING Filed Aug. 50, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 tion ALBERT N. ANTI-IES, 0F

PATENT `FFIQE.

SELF-LUBRICATING SPRING.

Application filed August 30, 1923. Serial No. 660,177.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Re it knownA that I, ALBERT N. ANTHES, a\citizen of the United States, residing at Quincy, in'the county of Adams and State of Illinois, have invented a new' and useful Self-Lubricating Spring, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention isto provide novel means for the self-lubrication of the leaf springs used" on automobiles; and to provide novel means for interlocking the several leaves ofthe compl-ete spring. Ilettain this and other objects of my invention by the mechanism illustrated in the accom-A panying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top elevation of my iiven- Fig. 2 is a side elevation'of same;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of one of the intermediate leaves containing wicking, with an alternative form also shown in which the wicking'is omitted; i

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4-4 of Fig. l; y

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on line 5`5 of Fig. 4;

. Fig'. 6 is a transverse section on line 6-6 ofFig.4;V

Fig. 7 is a transverse lsection on line\7-7 of Fig. 4; 4.

Fig. 8 is a detail elevational view of bolt 12; land l,

Fig. 9 is a 'detail bottom plan view of a portion of one of the main leaves 3 and its 4guide element 10.

Like. numerals indicate like parts in each of the several views. l

Referring to the accompanying drawings I.

provide an up ermost main supporting. leaf 1 and succee ing main supporting leaves 3 with intermediate leaves 2 interposed successively between the several main supporting leaves. All of the leaves are clamped together by clamp plates 4 .and Vbolts 5, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The top clamp plate 4 is provided with a centrally positioned oil reservoir 6 opening into vertical oil passages 7 which are provided in alignedposition in each of the main supporting leaves 1 and 3, `as shown in Fig. 4. I provide in each of the intermediate leaves 2 a lon tudinal slot 8 `extending nearly the entire ength of the leaves, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. I

may provide a wicking 9 for insertion in this slot, or the wicking 9 may be omitted entirely when a hard oil or grease is used for lubrication. y

The main supporting leaves, as. shown in Figs. '1, 6. and 9, are provided with bottom guide projections 10 disposed at the portion of the -leaf in which the oil passage 11 is positioned, the projection 10 functioning both as a reenforcement of the spring at the portion containing the oil channel and also as a guide element to hold the spring in alignment with the intermediate leaf 2 beneath as the guide element 10 seats or projects into lthe longitudinal slot 8 of leaves 2.

rllhe ends of the uppermost main supporting leaf 1 are looped around in the 'customary manner to receive boltf12, which is mounted in a conventional bushing 20. Bolt 12 is provided with a longitudinal oil channel extending from its head to or slightly past approximately the center of the bolt. A short radial oil channel 14 extending from channel 13 to the annular oil groove .15 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 provides means for supplying lubricating oil to the leaf spring at the endsv thereof.. A short diagonal oil channel 16 extends from oil Agroove 15 through leaf 1 to slot 8 in the uppermost of the bottom main supporting leaf 3, as

illustrated in Fig. 4, each of the leaves being correspondingly depressed or downwardly curved at their central portions, thus interlocking the several leaves of the spring.

In using the invention lubricating oil may be suppliedto reservoir 6 where it will seep down through the oil passages 7. Lubricating oil may also be supplied to the oil chanf nels 13 inthe bolts 12, whence it will pass through the radial oil passage 14 to the an- .nularoil grooves- 15 and thence through oil*` channels 16 to the longitudinal slot 18 in the uppermost intermediate spring 18 and thence through the vertical oil passage 11 to the succeeding channel 8 of the next intermedate spring, and so on until the entire spring is lubricated. Where lubricating oil is used I prefer to provide the wicking 9 in the several channels 8; but `if hard oil or grease is used, no wicking is required.

oUINcY, ILLINoIs, nssIGNon or ONE-HALF To ROBERT n. GUN'IHER, oroUINoY, ILLINOIS.

What I claim is:

l. In a self-lubricating spring, the combination of main supporting leaves having vertical oil passages, said leaves having projections on their under side surrounding said oil passages to reenforce the leaves and to function as guides, and intermediate leaves having longitudinal slots extending substantially the entire length of the leaves and functioning as oil passages and also as means for engaging the above-mentioned guides of the main supporting leaves.

2. In combination With mechanism described inclaim l, longitudinally channelled bolts in the ends of the uppermost main supporting leaf, said bolts having a radial oil passage and an. annular oil groove, the leaf having an oil passage extending from the annularly grooved portion of the bolt. to the longitudinal slot of the intermediate leal:I next beneath. l

3. ln a self-lubricating spring, 4the combination of main supporting leaves having vertical oil passages, intermediate leaves alternating Wit-h the main supporting leaves, each of said intermediate leaves having a longitudinally extending slot extending substantially the length 0f the entire leaf and aligned with the vertical oil'passages of the main supporting leaves to. permit oil to seep from one leaf to the other, and means for admitting oil to the uppermost intermediate leaf at the central and near the endl portions thereof.

ALBERT N. ATHES. 

